On Tue, 06 Dec 2005 14:28:27 +0100, Paulo Rodriguez <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Hello misc, > >I was curious about something. Is it considered as a sensible thing to >do, to request hardware info in name of the OpenBSD community directly >from vendors, for your own experimentation purposes? > >My question comes from the idea that a fun way to learn device driver >programming would be bugging the vendors of material you want to work on >your own pc for docs. I would believe this would keep the motivation >factor high, to learn how to program. > >Of course, saying that you are interested to make it work on OpenBSD >might be able to open some doors, as opposed to just barge in and say >'gimme tech doc now, I'm John Doe'. > >At the moment, people who want to learn the above read already available >code, then play around (as far as I can see). Looking into such docs and >play around with it could be an interesting experience. > >Are there any objections to such approaches (requesting things in name >of the OpenBSD community)? >Are there also any particular approaches to do such a thing, things not >to do, etc? > >TIA, > >P Hi Paulo, Do a search on misc@ for HiFn. It's a situation where I failed to get documentation released but I at least tried. Some of the posts in the threads have good "Business Case" reasoning for the release of documentation and it will be helpful to you in trying to persuade companies. If you tell the vendor you want to write your own driver for OpenBSD, be certain to tell them it is your first attempt at driver writing. If you expect them to be open with their docs, you need to be open with them. You may or may not pull it off on your first attempt but you'll definitely learn new things from trying to write a driver. If you fail to get the docs released, don't be disappointed; just by trying you made the company aware of a need/market and maybe the next guy after you who tries to get the docs opened might be the breaking point where the company finally decides to capitulate. Good Luck, JCR
